Enchantment and surprise

The image above shows Hachiko crossing in front of Tokyos Shibuya station, where around three million people get on and off trains every single day. As the traffic lights are set for cars to move, pedestrians gather along sides of the streets. Then it all discharges and masses of people flood the crossing from all sides at once. It’s a famous enchanting spectacle of modern society and humanity that I could watch for hours at a time.This of course challenged me to capture the essence of it in a still frame.

This summer, I had several attempts to photograph Hachiko crossing, in this case from a coffee shop. After this final evening, I felt that I failed to capture the magnificence of what happened before my eyes and that I had seen so much better pictures before.

However, while reviewing dozens of images weeks later and choosing this one as the best of my Shibuya series I discovered in this picture something very special to me personally. It’s an accidental detail that adds a personal value, that no existing professional photography could deliver. This goes to show that photographic discovery goes beyond finding a great composition but also about discovering things you hadn’t noticed at the time. Look closer!